Lenten Devotional Day Two
The pillars of a traditional Catholic Lent, at least in my limited understanding, are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. One way to combine all three is to live more simply. We can dedicate more time to prayer, we can go without food, drink, or something else, and we can be more charitable as we consume less. A sweet friend recently pointed me to a quote from Charles Spurgeon, “One staff aids a traveller, but a bundle of staves is a heavy burden.” Isn’t that the truth? Less is often more, and more is often a burden.
This morning I re-read A.W. Tozer’s chapter from The Pursuit of God entitled “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.” You can click to read it here. Tozer argues that you may be able to have and enjoy many blessings but that “possessing” is something different. Possessing fails to acknowledge that every thing we have belongs to God, and that when we grip things too tightly — even other people — they become idols.
Tozer says that deep in our hearts is a shrine where none but God is worthy to come. The way to ensure nothing creeps in to take God’s place is “the sweet theology of the heart which can be learned only in the school of renunciation.” Is there something in your life that you have too tight a grip on? Do you need to visit the “school of renunciation” and surrender this idol to God? Can you let God gently loosen your grip, acknowledging that no matter how white your knuckles may be, any security this gives you is false? This is a lesson that I learned in a profound way when my sons were little. Yet, it is also a principle I continually need to relearn.
For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me. Psalm 31:3
Digging Deeper:
Have you heard the following phrase: “You will own nothing and be happy”? How does this mentality differ from Tozer’s argument?
Do you feel called to live more simply? In what specific ways?
Do you feel more or less peace when you surrender all to God?